Aston Villa star, Emi Martinez has been singled out for praise following his excellent performance against Bournemouth.
Travelling to Bournemouth, Aston Villa were hopeful that they would be able to secure their fourth straight Premier League win.
Unfortunately for the Villans and Unai Emery, they were only able to come away with a single point and a draw from the Vitality.
Goals from Leon Bailey and Ollie Watkins helped Villa to come back from behind not once, but twice on the coast.
A sloppy error from Diego Carlos, paired with an excellent turn and strike by Dominic Solanke was enough for the Cherries to take a point away.
With that being said, there was one man for the Villans who helped to make sure they got at least that one.
How good was Emi Martinez vs Bournemouth?
It is safe to say that without Emi Martinez Villa would have lost that game. They would have lost it convincingly.
The Villa man faced 3.02 xG and was able to keep at least one goal out in terms of xG which is no easy feat.
Following the game, John Townley rated the Villa team and was more than complimentary of the Villa number one. On that, he said: “Made two crucial saves in the first half, one when Villa were already one goal down and then against Solanke as Villa pushed for their second. Villa lose that game without Martinez.”
According to SofaScore, he was worthy of a 7.9 rating which made him Villa’s best player on the day. He made 54 passes and 84% of those were accurate, superb from the Argentine. With nine of those accurate passes being long-range, it is safe to say his ability on the ball is top-tier.
Without Martinez in goal, it would have been a completely different result. With multiple point-blank, world-class saves it is hard to imagine a Villa side without the World Number One.
Considering the often lax attitude from the defence in front of him today, especially from Carlos, Martinez did well. He helps to set the standards of the whole club on and off the pitch which is of huge benefit to everybody.
A truly awesome performance against the Cherries which he needs to keep up as Manchester City and Arsenal rock up to Villa Park.
